Continuing our month of shows about looking at portrayals of illness, medicine and caregiving in comic books, we’re examining medical manga in two talks recorded at last year’s Graphic Medicine conference at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. Maria Vaccarella talks about a German Manga about Epilepsy – Epilepsie? Bleib cool! – an educational comic designed to help teenage epilepsy suffers in Germany cope with their condition, also Ada Palmer is talking about the heroism of doctors in the work of Osama Tesuka from Buddha to Black Jack, Astro Boy to Phoenix.

This month’s meeting we have three speakers for podcast representing two areas where cartoon art is being used for social good as well as entertainment.

Steve Silverwood and Laurence Stead are from Upside Comics – www.upsidecomics.org.uk – and they’ll be reporting on workshops they’ve recently held for the purpose of aiding literacy as well as spreading the word of the art form itself. Many cartoonists have been doing this work for a while (our trusty Dr Parsons and his www.crazycomicclub.co.uk for a start, not to mention all the other folks listed in www.cartoonclassroom.co.uk) and its future is under threat due to current cuts in schools and libraries, so reporting of practical results from such work is more needed than ever.
Also chatting will be Steve Carroll, who’s currently working on a graphic novel telling the true life story of a disabled woman – Once Damaged – which calls for greater understanding and care for those who find themselves in such a situation.

This month we’re doing something a little more special than usual, the MCC and Sandbar will be hosting the first BIG Drink n’ Draw on the very first day of the Not Part Of Fringe Festival! As always the Drink ‘n’ Draw will be FREE to attend, and we’ll have the usual drawing games, FREE snacks AND pizzas, FREE comics at the Comic…

As part of the BIG Drink ‘n’ Draw we’ll have a LITTLE Comic Fair! We will have tables set aside for selling YOUR comics! We’ll have a few of table for creators with lots to sell and one communal table for anyone’s comics, minis or zines! Tables are FREE but limited, so please leave a comment to show your interest and I’ll be in touch! If you can’t make it but would like to sell your comics, please drop them off at Sandbar with a note saying “For the BIG Drink ‘n’ Draw”.

As if that wasn’t enough Matt Badham will be hosting an informal chat and Q&A with Andy Diggle, writer of The Losers, Daredevil and former editor of 2000AD! The starting time for this is to be confirmed but will last about an hour.